Three international matches in less than a week!
France-Wales and France-Scotland in rugby on March 20 and 26, and France-Ukraine in football on March 24. In normal times, the Stade de France would have lived six days of celebration, full stands and full bars around.
But all this belongs to the world before.
Since February 9, 2020 and France-Italy rugby, last match with the public, the enclosure of Saint-Denis rings hollow.
The Covid-19 has been there.
With the exception of the Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue de football finals in the summer of 2020, with barely 5,000 authorized spectators, the public has been totally absent for more than a year.
But sporting events are there, and that's the whole paradox.
While, without an audience, the concerts are canceled, the sport itself lives behind closed doors in the stadiums to continue to appear on TV.
At the end of the week, the Stade de France will already have six football and five rugby matches hosted without a spectator since the start of the health crisis.
"We have a strong activity behind closed doors for few sources of income", summarizes Loïc Duroselle, director of programming of the Stade de France.
This paradox has financial consequences.
The private consortium (Vinci-Bouygues), which has a state concession to operate the 80,000-seat stadium until 2025, has seen its revenues fall by more than 80%.
In general, the Stade de France achieves a turnover of 60 million euros by organizing around twenty major events (concerts and matches) per year.
In 2020, thirteen events were canceled, including seven completely canceled.
And in 2021, the concerts planned for this summer (Indochina, Lady Gaga or the Rockin'1000 show) are more than threatened.
“We risk ending up with a postponement,” announces Loïc Duroselle.
Football and rugby continue to pay for the stadium
Result, for 2020-2021, despite some operating savings (60 to 75% of the 100 employees are on short-time work), the Stade de France will record 10 to 20 million euros in losses.
“We don't have a commercial recipe.
It's a pretty terrible shock to our economic model, ”says the manager.
“Hospitality” (boxes and VIP area), catering and merchandising for the general public are at zero.
Only the federations (football and rugby in this case) must continue to pay their rent to play their matches behind closed doors at the Stade de France.
FFF and FFR in fact always pay the Stadium, and, in the absence of spectators, they do not receive anything from the ticket office.
While usually almost all of the sale of tickets goes to them.
"But they keep the revenues from TV rights and sponsorship", recalls Loïc Duroselle.
And the federations are also waiting for state aid, promised last October, to compensate for these ticket office losses.
“It's an extremely complicated year for everyone.
Stadium like federations, both are suffering.
There is not one worse off than the other, assures the leader.
We have been fairly united in this crisis.
For example, when we had to postpone France-Scotland in rugby at the last minute because of Covid-19, we had excellent collaboration with the FFR to find a new date.
The period has rather brought us together.
"
Works, video games and vaccination center
It has not always been the case.
The Stade de France's relations with the federations have sometimes turned sour, and financial disputes even ended in court.
All this has been appeased with new agreements binding the Stadium to the FFF and the FFR until 2025. Then, the State has planned not to renew the concession to Vinci-Bouygues, by launching a new call for competition to operate the enclosure.
Or, if an interesting offer arises, to sell the stadium.
In the meantime, the Stade de France is preparing to host two new events: the Rugby World Cup in 2023 and the Olympic Games in 2024. And takes advantage of the drop in activity to carry out work (lighting, giant screen) which will cause three months closed from August to October.
The venue has also diversified by welcoming the headquarters of the Vitality team, an e-sport team (video games).
And it will be made available free of charge to the State and local communities to transform into a vaccinodrome in April.
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Before, perhaps, to find a little sporting public at the end of spring for the finals of the Coupe de France football and the Top 14 rugby.
But more certainly in the fall, for international football and rugby matches.
The Stade de France will then see again, if all goes well, 80,000 people in its bays.
After more than 18 months to remain empty.
